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(Madam 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. ROBB. Apple Parer and Slicer. No. 240,186. Patented April 12, 1881.,

(ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

- W. ROBB. Apple Parer and Slicer. No. 240,186. Patented April 12,1881.

ifitzzeasess UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WVILLIAM ROBE, OF CONKLINGVILLE, NEW YORK.

APPLE PARER AND SLICER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,186, dated April 12, 1881.

Application filed January 5, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM RoBB, of Uonkliugville, in the county of Saratoga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Paring and Slicing Vegetables; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which Figure l is a perspective view of my machine, looking at it from the crank end. Fig. 2 is a similar view taken from the opposite direction. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the paring knife or cutter and its appurtenances. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the paring-knife detached. Fig. 5 is a plan of the steel blank from which the paring knife is shaped or struck up. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the spring-latch for operating the fork-shaft; and Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of the outer end of the fork-shaft.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

My invention relates to machines for paring and slicing fruits and vegetables, more especially vegetables of irregular shapes, such as potatoes, cucumbers, and the like; and it consists in animproved construction and combination of operative parts, having for its ob ject to produce a machine which shall be simple and inexpensive in its construction, easy in its application and operation, and adapted to pare and slice up the whole of the fruit or vegetable subjected to its manipulation with greater ease, certainty, and perfection than in machines of that class as heretofore constructed.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings, the lettersA A designate a frame, made of cast-iron or other suitable metal. Said frame has two bosses, at b, both of which are bored through in the direction of the length of the frame, to form bearings or boxes for the forkshaft B, and it also has a clamp, 0, provided with a thumb-screw, d, for the convenient attachment of the machine to the edge of a table or other suitable support. The forkshaft B is provided with the fork-head f and tines g, to hold or carry the fruit or vegetable (Model.)

which is to be pared or sliced. It also has a crank, h, for turning it, and is screw-threaded its entire length, with the exception of a distance from the crank equal to the distance between the outer boss, at, and spring-latch i. This latch is pivoted at the upper end of the frame A, so as to bear against the inner boss, b, and is made with a beveledjaw, i, a fingerpiece, '1 and a stud, i as will appear more clearly by reference to Fig. 6 on Sheet 2 of the drawings. The beveled jaw t" of this latch is set slantingly toward the body of thelatch, at a pitch corresponding to that of the threads on shaft B, and is brought to bear against the threads of said shaft by means of aspring, i one end of which is secured upon the stud t of the latch, while the other end is fastened to a pin or stud projecting from the frame, as shown. The perforated bosses or boxes aand b are not threaded, so that the latch t forms the onlymediuln forpropelling the screw-shaft B, by engaging with its threads in themanner described; and by withdrawing thejaw of the latch from the shaft, by means of the fingerpiece i shaft B may be moved forward and back through the bosses a b at will. That end of the shaft B which carries the fork-head f, aswell as said head, has a longitudinal recess, It, to admit of the insertion of the revolving tailpiece D, for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

Attached rigidly to frame A, or made in one piece therewith, is a bracket, E, between which and the body of the frame projects the stationary slicer-knife F, which is set in a plane transversely to that of the tail-piece D, and is of such a length as to reach up to the shaft of said tail-piece above its cutter. The upper part of the bracket E constitutes a tubular box or bearing, E, for the shaft or axle l, the inncr end of which constitutes the pointed tailpiece D, above and transversely to which is secured the cutter G, which, it will thus be seen, rotates with the tail-piece and its shaft the axes denoted by the dotted lines 3 8, thus forming two curved lips set at an angle to one another, one of which said lips constitutes the cutting-edge a, and the other, 2;, which is bent so as to be set a little back of the former, constitutes the gage, the distance between the two determining the thickness of the peeling or paring. The shank of the cutter G is pivoted to two arms, K and M, one of which, M, is pivoted in the outer end of an arm or bracket, L, secured upon frame A, or made in one piece therewith, while the other arm, K, is secured in a rock-shaft or rocking head, J, which ishung between studs or bearings cast upon the frame, and is provided with a pin, m, to hold one end of a spring, a, which is coiled around the said head J, and the other end of which is attached at p to the main frame. Head J is cast with a lug or stud,j, which bears against the body of frame A, forming a stop to the approach of the paring-cutter 0 toward the tail-piece D when the machine is not in use.

By the combination of the paring-cutter G and oscillating arms K M in the manner described spring a will impel the cutter with a horizontal motion toward the tail-piece D, or, as nearly as practicable, in a plane intersectingat right angles the axis of the fruit or vegetable to be pared.

Having in the foregoing described the construction of my machine, I shall now proceed to describe its operation.

The machine is affixed upon the ledge of a shelf, table, or other suitable support, by means of the clamp c and thumb-screw d, after which the fork-shaftB is withdrawn to its full extent by releasing the latch 41 from its hold upon the screw-threads. The vegetable to be pared is stuck with one end upon the tines g of the fork-head in such position that its long axis may coincide, as nearly as may be, with the axis of shaft B, after which the latch is closed by releasing hold upon its finger-piece i and the shaft is turned by its crank, thus propelling the vegetable against the pointed tail-piece D at the other end of the machine, which enters the opposite end of the vegetable. The paring-cutter 0 now comes into operation, and, yielding to the shape of the "egetable, however irregular it may be, while closely following its outline, cuts off, with its curved and sharpened lip a, a narrow spiral peeling, which escapes through the aperturewand falls down on the table. The curvature of the cutter-lip u and its gage-lip c, which impinge upon the vegetable, cause the cutter to yield easily and to out off a paring or peeling of even thickness t-hroughoutits entire length, while, at the same time, the cutter-point is always presented to the vegetable at the same angle, without regard to the varying distances between the cutter-point and the longitudinal axis of the vegetable operated upon. The cutter G, which is secured transversely upon the tail-piece D and revolves with it, entering the vegetable at the pared end, cuts it into halves before it is presented to the stationary slicing-knife F, which cuts it up into a thin spiral shaving. Having been already cut into halves by the cutter G, the shavings or slices severed by the cutter F become detached and drop down upon the table pared and ready for use. The recess in the fork-head f permits the tail-piece D, as the fork-shaft is screwed up, to enter theforkhead, and thus insure the complete peeling, cutting, and slicing of the vegetable, with but little waste or butt.

Having thus described my invention, Iclaim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. In a machine for paring vegetables, the splitter Gr, when secured at right angles upon and rotating with the tail-piece D, substantiall y as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The paring-cutter 0, made in one piece, having a curved cutter-lip, a, set at a suitable angle to a curved gage-lip, o, and the aperture to between the two lips to and c, substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and described.

3. The cutter-blank composed of the shank 0, having diverging lips 15 t at its outer end, and aperture to between said lips, substantially as set forth.

4. In a machine for paring vegetables, the combination, with the frame and fork-shaft for holding the vegetable to be pared, of a cutter, O, pivoted upon and between two arms, K M, located in the s ime or in parallel planes, and adapted to oscillate parallel to one another, substantially as set forth.

5. In a machine for paring and slicing vegetables, the frame A, when made with the bracket E, having the tubular extension E, forming a box for the rotary tail-piece, and arm L extending at right angles to bracket E, and forming a support for the oscillating supplementary cutter-arm M, substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and set forth.

6. In a machine for paring and slicing vegetables, the rotary tail-piece D, with its splitter G, support E, having tubular extension or box E, paring-cutter O, and its oscillating supplementary knife-arm M, in combination with the frame A, rocking head J, spring n, and fork- WILLIAM ROBB.

Witnesses:

PATRICK BARRON, JACOB O. PALMER. 

